Control means for oil well tools



March 13, 1956 J.'LYNES CONTROL MEANS FOR OIL WELL TOOLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1953 INVENTOR M wwwvww v W W 13%. m m i w 5 L BY v KW ATTORNEYS March 13, 1956 J. LYNES CONTROL MEANS FOR OIL WELL TOOLS Filed Jan. 29, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 3 uybjzn ymws ATTORNEYS United States Patent $738,016 CONTROL MEAN S FOR OIL iW-ELL TOOLS JohnYLynes, Albuquerque, N. .Mex., assignor to=il Re- .CQVGI'Y ,Corporgtion,Albuquerque, N. Mex., a corporalion-of-New Mexico Application January 29, 1953, Serial :No. 334,025 ;-Claims. '(Cl.166-187) EFhisinvent ionrelates *to control meansespecially usefnl forbilwelltools of the *packertype. In such tools it is indssary to employ the supporting pipe or drill string for f at least; two purposes, first, to engage thetool in "a-fiiedpo'sition to sealoff a selected-formation ini'tlre di'ill liole"and, seconiily,' to open'thesupporting pipe into "connection-with the formationfor treating and iproduction operations. .Mostpacker tools consist of'oneor more resilient packer members which 'are forced into expanding contact with "the drill hole walls by the exernon, directly or indirectly, of hydraulic pressuredliv I the string ofpipe may have play or'stretch in'excess or "over ten 'feetj'hence vertical manipulations 'at 'the' surface, 'iimpartedto"the tool at' the distant end in thewell, often "have inexact or unknown results. It will be appreciated that in view of the tremendous investmentj'neededito 'drilbsuch wellsfthe controls of the; packer tool shfoi'll'd 5 bes'im'ple' and' .sure to operate, otherwise damage to the well orifai'lure to achieve production will result.

Accordingly, the invention contemplates a" tool jo'fjthe "typedes'cribed wherein control means are'providedfto retain the tool in packer' operatingy position*while lower- 2,738,016 Patented Mar. 13,

2 ment with the drillho'le walls'in position'for treating or production operations;

Flg.'*3 is a'fragmentary section on enlarged scale of the upper of the two-packer assemblies shown in l 'andf2, illustrating the invention in detail;

Fig. 4 is'a section'on lines 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is'a fragmentary section of the endofthelower ofthe'two'packerassemblies of Figs. 1 and '2, also illustrat 'ing the. invention in detail; and

f-Fig. Gisfasection an lines 6'6'of Fig. 3.

In Fi'gs. l and2the drillhole of an oil well is desigjjn'ated 'LatflO. An inner communicating and supporting pipe 11 is provided forsuspension of the tool'fromfthe usual stringof supportingpipe or :tubing (not shown). {Supportedon 'pipe l l'are'the upper and 'lower paclrer fasseniblies'lZj and 13. "Upperassembly 12 is composed "of upper and lower housings or body members 14 andfls fbetw'een which is mounted'the expansible resilient packer member {16 whose ends are confined by theexpansible 2 ;meta1lic'collars1'7 and 18. As w'ilLbe furtherdescribed,

packer'member 16.is driven into, contact with the bore "10 (Fig.2) "by the movement of hydraulically actuated iramonpi'stonlli, contained in lower body member '15.

The preferre'd form of packergassemblyifor usewi'th .t hisii'nven't ion' rnay be further understood in detail by-reference to'my prior copendin-g application Serial No. 307358, the resilientpacker members thereinjhown "lbeingfforme'd .o'f a plurality of pliesof elastic material provided with longitudinal open seams. .Thistype of 30 cjonstruction provides a packer .whi'ch, whencompressed longittidinallyiby ithe pistons20 20a is forced to ex pand jl laterally. The iconstruction, as shown in Eig. .'j 2, permits the packer material to 'fold upon itself in b'e1- ",lowsElike manner, the folds producing asubstantialincrease in diameter of the packer body.

, liowenbody member 15 also contains the-main treatl ingandfprddu'ct ion port 21.

[Spaced from upper: packer assembly 12 .on ..pipe11, the lower packer assembly13 is similarly constitutedsex- ,ceptforthe omission of any.treating or, production port,

"and consists of ,upper. housing 14 lower housing .I15a ,pae'ker'n1ember 16a, collars 17a'18a, andpistoniZOaL f It willbe appreciated that witha general construc- "tionof this. nature, control of the tool must be effected 5 solely by means of the pipe 11 connected to the rdifill intol the welL-arid wherein the'transfer frqmpackerthe use of an elliptical seal angularly' mounted in the walls of"the'toolfhousing surrounding -a centrallpipe '-leading to the surface, I which 'seal selectivelyopensa -p'ort in thep'ipe to either of the desired positions.

The inventionis particularly well adapted, for-use as '--control means for the oil'well tooldescribed'and claimed immy co-pendingapplication Serial No. 130719 581fi1ed September-15,1952, wherein very powerful andtrugged resilient packer members are forced byhydraii-lic a'lly driven. pistons into formation-fracturing and,sealing-6if contact with thefd'rilllhole walls. Accordingly, the drawingflillustrates-the invention in connection withal tqbl of thispreferredlype Other further objects and advantages or the invention will lie-described inconnectionwith' the drawing, wherein: 'l ig. l is anelevation' of atwo-packer toolin" condition for lowering i1'1to thedri ll hole of; an [oil well;

. "lig. 2 'is a similar elevation --with' the tool in engage- "springs'ends being riveted string. In the :Fig. "1 position the packers 16+j116a must positivelybeheld in collapsed condition fon-lowering. In the Fig. 2 position, the stratum or formation extending between the packers 16 16a must beseald :Qffibyoperation of the, packers. It is, thennecessaryjo maintain the packers in borehole-engaging position and 'to ,connectpipe'11 with themain port-21lfor...treating j. or producingthe selected formation.

' InQFigf3 the upper packer assembly-12..of-Figs.1.12 is shown in enlarged detail, the packer.16,having been omitted at the fragment line, and only portions of.tl 1e 9 11ars 1718 being .shown. In this view it willbe seen that the upper and lower body members liandlls are held in spaced condition by means of.sleeve.22.dis- ,posedoninner pipe 11 and that the assembly.' 12 is supported on pipellby peripheral fiange 23. formed .on "'plpefl l. Flange 23 engages in a recessj24 formed in 'hody"mernb er'14,.the latter having awscrew cap-25.1fm f'the purpose. Accordingly, packer assembly 12. is.sup- "ported for rotational but not axial movement relativeto pipeill.

"'fThe aforesaid rotational movement is limited and spring-urged in a counter-clockwise directionaby-aheayy "coil fispring26 (Figs. 3 and 4) contained in body ,14, the or otherwise secured a at .427 14 and pipell. Flange-23 pin 29 which engages in an "and28 'tothe body member further carriesa depending 'nected with cylinder 31. pin 29 occupies the left end of slot 30, to which position it would move when clockwise rotation of pipe 3 arcuate slot 30 formed in body member 14, to further limit the movement of pipe 11 relative to body 14 and assembly 12.

The lower body member 15 carries a chamber forming the cylinder 31 in which cylindrical piston is mounted, it being understood that vertical movement of piston 20 will cause packer member 16 to be longitudin' ally compressed or wadded together and to expand into contact with the borehole in the manner shown in Fig. 2. Safety vents 32 are provided to relieve fluid pressure and thus to limit excessive movement of piston 20 near the extremity of its stroke.

Cylinder 31 is supplied with hydraulic fluid through a supply channel 33 whose lower end terminates on the interior wall of body member 15 facing the inner pipe 11. Opposite the supply channel 33 a chamber 34 leads to the main treating and production port 21.

Connecting selectively with either channel 33 or with chamber 34, a control port 35 is formed in the wall of inner pipe 11. Seated in a recess in the walls "of member 15 is the sealing ring 40, elliptical in shape, in such position that it lies in a plane at an angle to the axis of pipe 11. A detail of the construction of this sealing ring 40 is shown in Fig. 6. Arranged in other recesses formed in the body members 14 and 15 are additional sealing rings 41, each arranged on a plane perpendicular to the axis of pipe 11. Seals 40 and 41 provide fluid-tight joints at their respective locations.

Due to the eccentric or angular arrangement of seal 40 with respect to pipe 11, it will be seen that when pipe 11 is left free from rotation, as when the tool is lowered into the well, spring 26 will retain control port 35 on the right hand side of seal 40, in the fullline position shown in Fig. 3, the port 35 being sealed ofi from connection with chamber 34 and main port 21. In this position, due to the action of spring 26, the

driller may lower the tool into the well with positive assurance that it will remain in condition for actuating piston 20 to force packer 16 against the selected borehole location. Fluid pressure delivered by pumping from the surface, will then pass through pipe 11, control port 35, channel 33 and cylinder 31 to actuate piston 20.

When packer 16 has thus been set at the selected locality, a clockwise rotation of the drill pipe of approximately 180 degrees will rotate pipe 11 relative to body 15 and move the port 35 to the left hand side of seal 40, in which position the cylinder 31 and piston 20 are sealed off, in actuated or locked condition, and in which position, also, control port 35 becomes connected with chamber 34 leading to the main treating and production port 21.

As mentioned previously, the rotational movement of pipe 11 relative to body 15 is limited by the extent of movement permitted to pin 29 by the arcuate slot 30. -As shown in Fig. 4, in the full-line position, pin 29 is forced to the extreme right in slot by action of coil spring 26, which is the position in which port is con- In the dotted-line position 11 overcomes the resistance of spring 26, effecting connection of control port 35 with main port 21.

In Figure 5 a fragmentary view is shown of the lower body member 15a of lower packer assembly 13, wherein a sealing ring a is employed in a similar manner to that described above for ring 40. Body member 15a, however, contains no main port corresponding to the port 21 of member 15, it not being desired with a two packer tool, to effect access to the well below the tool, but only to the formations isolated between the packers. Accordingly, in the full-line position shown in Fig. 5, port 35:: is connected with channel 33:: leading to the cylinder (not shown) of the lower packer. When rotated clockwise, port 35:: is moved across seal 40a into the dotted-line position where it is completely sealed from any external connection between seal 40a and seal 41a.

The upper body member 14a is constructed and supported on pipe 11 in the same way as member 14 (Fig. 3).

The operating procedure for a two packer tool is therefore as follows: the tool is lowered into the well in the condition shown in Fig. 1, with the ports 3535a of pipe 11 in registry with the channels 33-3311 leading to pistons 202-i a. The spring mechanism 26 in body member 14 and its counterpart in member 14a will preserve this condition. At the desired location in the well, pumping from the surface will cause both packers 1616a to engage the drill hole, thus sealing off the Well space between. Rotation of the drill string (less than one-half turn is sufiicient) will then seal off the pressure in the ram cylinders and connect port 35 with the treating and production port 21.

To maintain the tool in this condition, the driller needs only to secur the drill string in its rotated position. To release the tool from the well the drill string may be rotated oppositely or allowed to return to its original position, aided by the pressure of springs 26. With the ports 35-35a again in registry with channels 3333a, the hydraulic pressure will be released and packers 1616a will collapse.

With the foregoing illustration of the invention, it should be clear how the invention may be employed with a single unit packer tool or with a tool having two or more packer members. Furthermore, the control means here described and claimed are applicable to other well tools or to any device or structure where a selective multi-positional fluid line connection is required.

What is claimed is:

1. A well tool of the type described, comprising an operating pipe, packer supporting means enclosing a portion of said pipe and mounted thereon for rotational movement relative to said pipe, said supporting means carrying an expansible packer and containing an internal channel and fluid-actuated means connected with said internal channel for forcing said packer by hydraulic pressure into contact with the walls of a well borehole, a main port in said supporting means disposed in spaced relationship to said channel, a port in said operating pipe located for selective registry with said channel or with said main port, a sealing member carried by the inner wall of said packer supporting means in a plane lying between said channel and said main port, rotation of said pipe relative to said supporting means causing the port in the operating pipe to move across said sealing memberto selectively communicate with said internal channel or said main port, and resilient means operatively connecting said supporting means to said operating pipe tending to urge said pipe and said packer supporting means into relative positions maintaining the port of said pipe in registry with said channel.

2. The tool according to claim 1, the sealing member consisting of a sealing ring diagonally disposed in the inner wall of the packer supporting means. 7

3. The tool according to claim 1, the resilient means connected to said operating pipe consisting of a spring carried between the operating pipe and packer supporting means.

4. The tool according to claim 1, with means limiting the rotation of said operating pipe relative to said packer supporting means, said limiting means consisting of a pin carried by said pipe movable in an arcuate slot carried by said packer supporting means.

5. A well tool of the type described, comprising an operating pipe, spaced packer supporting members enclosing spaced portions of said pipe and mounted for rotational movement relative thereto, each of said supporting members carrying an expansible packer and containing an internal channel connecting with fluid-actuated means for forcing said packers by hydraulic pressure into contact with the walls of a well borehole, a main treating and production port located in one of the supporting members and located between saidpackers opposite to an internal channel, a sealing member carried by the inner wall of the same packer supporting member in a plane lying between said main port and the said opposite channel, a second sealing member disposed opposite said other channel in the other packer supporting member, and a pair of ports in said operating pipe located in the respective planes of said channels, rotation of said pipe relative to said supporting members causing said ports to connect with said channels, or selectively to cause one of said ports to move across the first sealing member into communication with said main port and the other port of said operating pipe to 'become sealed off, and resilient means operatively connecting said supporting means to said operating pipe tendin to urge said pipe and said supporting means into relative positions maintaining said ports in registry with said channels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Burdick Mar. 3, 1931 2,195,488 Hulshizer Apr. 2, 1940 2,621,886 Mueller Dec. 16, 1952 

